New search experience improvements

We made a few subtle changes to the SERP today and wanted to take the time to point them out.

First, we moved the region toggle up next to the search box to make it more visible and faster to get to when you're performing a search. It also gives us flexibility to add more filter options near the region toggle in the future.

Second, we moved the "Send Feedback" button higher on the right side of the page. We're always considering ways to improve the search engine, and your feedback is an important part of that. When you find really good or really bad search results, click the button and let us know!

We also released quite a few behind-the-scenes changes that we hope will lead to an improved search experience over time. If you notice any odd behavior, or have any feedback on any of the changes, please let us know in the comments.

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I've used the non-JS search page since the big redesign two years ago because I found the contrast on the redesigned site to be awful. I understand that the redesigned site allows for the contrast to be restored to sane levels through the settings page. However, I preferred to use the non-JS page because it was simpler to use a vanilla page that didn't require customization any time I used a different computer or phone.

The problem with making the non-JS page "closer to the look and feel" of the JS-enabled page is that there is now no way for the user to customize the contrast on the non-JS page. I think that the accessibility of the page is much more important than the satisfaction of your design team's whim for interface monoculture.
I would very much like it if the old interface were restored in some form. Perhaps it could be moved to duckduckgo.com/contrast ?

Thank you for the comment. We just released a change that shows the modal and toggle on hover to help avoid the extra click. We're going to continue to explore other ways of improving the UX if you have any other suggestions or feedback please let us know!

Thanks for the change, very pleased with the nice quick turn around :-). This is better, though I would still prefer to have the toggle in plain sight.

I will certainly provide feedback, as an ex-interface designer these things tend to jump out at me.

As a general rule I'm not in favour of hiding things things away where the user can't see them. It increases the cognitive load and makes the app harder to use. I have noticed an increasing trend for this, especially web apps. Aesthetically putting everything in hovers and pop-ups makes the main page page look nice and clean, but the user has to work harder to find stuff. Also they tend to only work with a mouse, not keyboard input. a nightmare for anyone with disabilities

Wherever possible give the user the choice. Everybody uses computers differently and for different things so one size doesn't fit all :-)

On the top\right of the images, if you see this: you just need to clip on the right-most icon (the squares) and - if you have Auto-Load enabled in settings (default), you will have all images displayed.